Typical Day
by Rhoda J
Summary: An eveyday kind of day for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. This should prove interesting...


Typical Day

**I'm so sorry for confusion I might have caused through the names! Thank you** LazyPanther **for pointing that out! Typical Day has been fixed so hopefully no more problems. Let me know if I miss something, please!**

Author Note:** A special shout-out for **candelight**, for without her this fic would not exist. Thanks! This story focuses more on Leonardo's day but the other guys are in here too. This story might be subject to many different writing styles due to the fact I wrote bits and pieces of it on different days. It's longer than I wanted it to be, but hopefully you will enjoy it anyway. It's pretty much little stories all combined together into one big story. Beware of insanity and randomness.**

Disclaimer: Yes, I do own TMNT. I also own PONG, Skittles and may or may not own Hamburger Helper.

_Warning: This story and disclaimer are _fiction_ and should be treated as such. Reenacting this story may result in food poisoning, quite possible maiming of the body, depression, death, paralysis, and a general decline in self- confidence. Please, for your own health and safety, do NOT try this at home._

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**5:00 A.M.**

_Beep! Beep! Beep! _The annoying jarring sound of an alarm clock cried out interrupting the silence of early morning in the Hamato household. It thankfully was shut off quickly by Leonardo already ready to face the day. Unlike popular belief, Leo only got up seven minutes or so before the alarm in preparing for the day. Normally, Leo would just flow into the a hour of contemplation and medication before the rest of the household got up, but the strange flavor of pizza he had last night had succeeded in giving him draconian breath. He wasn't sure what was on that pizza, but he was positive that he was not letting Mikey choose the toppings again.

After brushing his teeth thoroughly for two minutes exactly, Leo reached for the mouthwash and noticed something odd. Picking up the mouthwash he noticed that the cap wasn't on all the way. Acting on instinct and gut feeling that had saved his life many times, Leo further unscrewed the cap and smelled the contents. A slight smile slide across his face as he realized what the contents were. Dish soap had replaced the usual mouthwash and Leo knew instantly who the culprit was. Surely those horrific pizza toppings couldn't be a coincidence but a conspiracy. Leo allowed a small chuckle out while rescrewing the cap back unto the mouthwash. The inevitable fight would probably be an amusing one. He _should_ dump it out like a good peacemaker would but... After all not dumping it out was encouraging brain power and that would be good for Mikey these days. Satisfied with this excuse, Leo journeyed back into the tranquil calm of his room to get some quiet before the fireworks began.

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**6:07 A.M.**

"Find anything to eat?" Leo asked as he walked into the now busy kitchen alive with the doings of the morning. Mikey looked up from rummaging in the refrigerator before resuming his search somewhat faster. It would seem that Mikey was trying to get a head start in getting to the little food they had at the moment before the figurative ravenous wolves set in. It would explain the reason why he was up so early and not staying in bed long past the fifth time tapping the snooze button.

"You could attempt the breakfast cereals but be careful. The rats have chewed the bottom out so you might spill it everywhere. The small ones, I mean."

"I figured. Breakfast cereals somehow don't sound that appetizing today."

"There's also leftover takeout but I'm not quite sure when we got that and if it hasn't been eaten by Raph by now..." Mikey's trailed off pulling out a takeout box from the fridge and opening at before looking at it in disgust and handing it to his brother. The look of disgust quickly turned to a very deceptive smile. "You even get the added bonus of extra greens!"

"That's...okay." Leo said plucking it from it from Mikey's grasp and dropping it quickly in the garbage.

"Your picky food habits are going to get you out of a meal. And the most important meal of the day too."

"There must be something else." Leo asked not quite on the point of desperation.

"There's always toast." Mikey said with a shrug. Leo sighed and pulled the toaster out from its not really protective position on top of the fridge. It was only up there to give Don a little room to breathe easier knowing that the smallest and most techno- destructive member of the family had to take the time to get a stool in order to reach it. Someone would be more able to catch him in the act and offer their more capable services in order to stop another trip to the workbench.

"Um...Leo. Have you a sudden interest in organic butter?" Mikey handing the butter to Leo. Leo could feel the butter sloshing around in the closed container

"Not particularly, why? Did you leave it out all night?" Leo replied wisely knowing the full meaning of 'organic butter'.

"Well, if butter is anything like cheese, I am sure that leaving it out adds an extra flavor. And it wasn't me, it had to be Raph. He doesn't like waiting for butter to melt so that he can spread it." Mikey said handing Leo both the bread and the butter. Leo logically only accepted the bread, slipping into the two slots. Remembering to plug in the toaster, Leo hungrily but patiently waited for the bread to become toast. "It's a good thing that you are finishing the bread up." Mikey continued. "The butter wasn't the only thing left out all night. At least now it doesn't matter if the bread is dried up or not."

"Why is it that our home seems to also be home for all these bacteria?" Leo muttered to himself. While Leo prided himself in being a morning person, limited breakfast options were rated almost up there with arguments with Raph.

"Think about where we live, bro." Mikey said answering the rhetorical question in a matter-of-fact tone of voice that would have caused a tiny tinge of irritation in his food deprived brother, but any irritation was immediately overpowered by disgust. Suddenly two charcoal pieces of stale bread became not worth the effort.

"Do we have any kind of jam or anything to hide the taste?" Leo asked almost but not quite to the point of desperation.

"There's always ketchup."

"Do we have any kind of jam or anything _realistically_ speaking to hide the taste?" Leo repeating his question in better terms.

"Syrup? It would be just like French Toast." Mikey replied pulling the half-full bottle of syrup out of the cupboard.

"It's not the same thing." Leo said taking the syrup from Mikey. As if summoned the black, stale toast popped up and Leo somewhat reluctantly grabbed the still hot pieces of bread and spread a considerable amount of syrup over the bread amounting to a golden blanket of sorts. Unfortunately the heat transferred itself from the bread to the syrup and the sticky mess of a meal became a sticky disaster. Leo found that if he put the two pieces of bread together into a sandwich not only did it reduce the amount of syrup dripping off the bread but it also deceivingly hid some of its many bad qualities. It might be possible to pass it on to a unsuspecting brother. Especially if that brother was both sleep and caffeine deprived...

"Morning." Mikey and Leo watched their brother shuffle in before collapsing into a lifeless heap in one of the chairs around the scarred table. He flopped his head down for a few seconds before sighing bracing himself against the table and the chair in an attempt to get up.

"Wait, Don, you don't have to get up. I already made you something." Leo putting a hand behind his back and Mikey miraculously taking the hint subtly slipped a plate into his hand. Leo flipped around the plate with flourish putting the disgrace of a sandwich on top of the plate in one smooth, very quick motion. The motion was too swift for Don to notice in his state of mind and he mistakenly thought that his trustworthy oldest brother had decided to do him a favor.

"Hey, thanks. I'll have it as soon as I wake up with a cup of coffee." Don said making the motion of getting up again.

"You know what, don't worry about it. I know you hate cold toast so you can eat this while its warm and I'll get the coffee." Leo responded swiftly and just as swiftly placed the food in front of Don.

"You hate coffee though." Don said looking up with a hint of suspicion in his voice. "It really doesn't take that long. I made sure I started the pot before I went to bed."

Thinking frantically, Leo said the first thing that came to mind. "Mikey drank all of the coffee." Leo even added a point finger to his snickering brother who stopped realizing instantly the severity of the accusation made against him. "It'll be awhile until the next batch is ready. You can eat these pieces of toast to wake you up." This of course was a horrible excuse, but it came first to mind. Luckily, Don didn't really consider the bizarre chance of Leo approving let only making coffee or Mikey drinking a whole pot of coffee. All that was on his mind was the horror of having to go through the morning without coffee to stimulate his brain cells and a very hyperactive younger brother literally bouncing off the walls. Don sighed, shot a glare at Mikey, and brought the plate closer to him as Leo sneaked quickly away. Don bit into the toast sandwich and even with sleep fogging his brain he realized that it wasn't a gesture of kindness but one of malice.

"What the shell is this?!" Don trying to cry out but couldn't as his mouth was sealed together with now cold syrup that served the same purpose of glue. He settled for shooting (figurative) daggers at Mikey and Leo for ruining a seemingly normal morning. His look almost mirroring Mikey's glare at Leo for bringing the wrath of Donny on him that could quite possibly follow him all day. Such was the atmosphere when Raph arrived. Raising an eye ridge, Raph wondered how so much animosity could have happened before his arriving. Maybe it had something to with the fact he accidentally left the bread and butter out last night. His foot brushed against the garbage can making him look down.

"Who threw away perfectly good takeout?" Raph said looking down at the garbage can. "Aren't you always onto us about wasting food?" Raph asked Leo pulling out a fork from the drawer. Watching his brother dig in Leo quickly began to realize that he probably should just skip breakfast even if it was the most important meal of the day.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**6:48 A.M.**

Leo waited for his brothers in dojo as they got ready for practice. He knew he would regret missing breakfast later in the day but Leo knew he probably regret it even more if he had had breakfast. How Raph hadn't tasted the rotten food, Leo did not know. It thoroughly sickened everyone else and ironically Raph was the only one who ate a decent breakfast today. Leo shuddered and turned his mind to other things.

"What the shell!?" Leo instantly was on his feet at Raph's yell. Running out to see what the commotion was about, Leo heard hysterical laughing. Realizing immediately what had transpired, Leo hurried to see the damage. Unfortunately for everyone but especially for Mikey, Raph has used the phony mouthwash. Raph now chasing a laughing/screaming Mikey began to make many threats and curses. Leo could see soap bubbles coming out of Raph's mouth with each threat he roared.

"You needed your mouth cleaned out with soap, Raphy!" Mikey called over his shoulder as he vaulted over the couch. Mikey skidded across the floor for a few seconds before turning suddenly in a different direction with Raph stumbling behind him. Seeing a way out, Mikey quickly ran to Don who was coming out of his room. "Donny! Please, please save me! The horrible monster is after me, and I am completely innocent!" Mikey said with grand fanfare. Mikey went to hide behind Don but was stopped by the sudden appearance of Don's arm. Mikey looking up at Don's face remembered too late that Don was mad at him.

"Thanks Donny." Raph said to Don.

And the first fight of the day started off early.

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**6:50 A.M.**

Practice began strictly at 6:50. No exceptions. Master Splinter kept a firm schedule when it came to practices and that schedule needed to be kept and for most of the time it was.

Of course it would be harder for the younger members of the family to keep this schedule if they were busy doing other things such as fighting amongst themselves. With Raph trying to pin Mikey down and having Leo trying to stop Raph and Mikey trying to escape and Don surprisingly cheering everyone one, it certainly took up their time. Master Splinter could hear the commotion with his eerie heightened senses and he sat down to wait.

And wait.

Master Splinter considered checking the clock to see if he actually was early but he held back when he heard a muffled curse. His sons had just realized what time it was. His students fell into line and waited for the punishment for tardiness.

And waited.

"My sons, today you will be working in pairs sparring." The tone of Master Splinter's voice made the line flinch. "Donatello and Raphael. Leonardo and Michelangelo." Another flinch. "You may begin." The quartet glanced at each other puzzled. Surely being so late registered some punishment.

Mater Splinter smiled inwardly. Let the relief hang in the air a little longer... "And I expect you to be an hour early for tomorrow morning's practice." Four faces fell. The lesson of time and schedules had resettled themselves again into the teenagers' minds.

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**10:55 A.M.**

Practice always ended unofficially at 10:55, right before Master Splinter's favorite soaps came on. No exceptions. This was almost as firmly enforced as the start time of practice although a good deal more off-the-record. While if someone had a question about a certain maneuver or why something was done the way it was done, Master Splinter would patiently answer their questions. However, as time went on getting closer and closer to the hour, it became apparent where Master Splinter's mind really was through the way his eyes drifted ever so slightly towards his quarters where his personal-easy-to-use television lie.

He was making such a face now.

Mikey, for some odd reason or another, was on a particularly mischievous streak. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he wasn't too badly hurt in the first fight and wanted to see how far his luck could go. Or maybe it had to with the secret vow he made to try everyone's patience in the Hamato household. Raphy had been easy to check off his list. It had taken him five, ten minutes or so to pull that classic prank together. Donny, Leo, and Master Splinter would be harder but certainly well worth it.

"Why?" Mikey asked out of the blue just as Master Splinter was about to dismiss his students.

"Do you have a question, Michelangelo?" Master Splinter said in his voice overflowing with wisdom and perception.

"Yes, why?"

"You need to be more specific, my son." Master Splinters's eyes flashed suspiciously.

"Why-" Mikey was about to stop just there but something in Master Splinter's eyes told him that that wouldn't be very wise. "-I mean what does-" Mikey had to pause for a second due to the fact he wasn't really sure what he was asking. "-nitrophenylenediamine mean?" Back up annoying questions were always a must for annoying the ancient masters.

"Michelangelo, this is not prudent with today's lesson. I suggest you consult a dictionary." Master Splinter turned to head for his room and his television.

"Donny's hogging the dictionary again and you know I can't go up to his lab after what happened last time." Mikey, master of excuses. "But, I guess I could go to the lab if that would be better for you Master Splinter." Master Splinter and the rest of the family froze in their tracks. The last time Mikey had gone to Don's lab it had ended in tragedy. With all those shiny, dangerous things, Mikey must not go back into the lab!

"What was your question?" Master Splinter turning around asked Mikey.

Mikey gave him a winning smile and stated again his question. "What does nitrophen-"

"Can you not ask Donatello this question?" Master Splinter interrupted gesturing to Don who was all but raising his hand.

"O no Master Splinter." Mikey replied sincerely. "We all know Donny knows it, but I want to know if you know it."

"Do you already know the answer, Michelangelo?" Master Splinter asked.

"No, but once you get it right. Donny will shout out CORRECT so that we both know what nitrophenylenediamine means." Mikey explained. It all worked out so smoothly in his mind. Unfortunately Master Splinter would have none of it.

"I advise you to just ask Donatello. You can tell me later what it means." Master Splinter disappeared in the blink of an eye. Leo thought he heard a muttering about 'kids' and 'missing the first minutes' but it was just a passing thought nothing more.

"You see Mikey, nitrophenylenediamine is a dye of intense red color that is-" Don was explaining to Mikey exactly what nitrophenylenediamine was, what it did, why people used, and created an altogether very long lecture. The look on Mikey's face spoke of sweet vengeance to come against anyone nearby. Leo and Raph disappeared quickly to avoid the onslaught. It was going to be a very long day.

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**1:33 P.M.**

Walking down the stairs to the dining area after his added practice, Leo noticed something unusual. It perhaps was the loudest sound of all. Silence. Glancing at the clock a second to time to make sure he was right about the time, Leo frowned thoughtfully to himself. He fully expected lunchtime to be noisy and maybe a tad violent especially since only a limited supply of food was edible. He was regretting coming down in the first place since he was so late to lunchtime but now maybe his brothers had forgotten about lunch altogether and he still had a chance at food. Then again it was impossible for Mikey or Raph to forget about any kind of mealtime, let alone the two of them to forget at the same time.

Reaching the kitchen table, Leo picked up a note by ripped apart bags of groceries.

_Mikey called and said that you guys were running low of food. I brought over some groceries and I expect them to at least feed you for a couple of lunches. Don't eat all of it in one setting!_

_Don't worry about paying me back. I owe you guys._

_April_

Looking into the bags, Leo found: half a loaf of bread with the heels of the another loaf of bread, the crumbs in the bottom of three family size bags of chips, a big container of crunchy peanut- butter, an almost empty can of grape jelly, and various cans of fruit that all were opened excluding a can of pears. A fruit salad lay off to the side with all the mandarin oranges and grapes picked out of it leaving only bits of pineapple and banana. Not having anything to eat since last night, Leo used the last half loaf of bread to make a few peanut-butter and banana sandwiches. By combining the crumbs from all three bags there was a good pile of grease and salt covered potatoes on his plate. Leo felt slightly bad for leaving behind the pineapple in the fruit salad but pineapple, in Leo's view, was only good as a symbol of a tropical getaway. Besides they needed some leftovers for tomorrow's breakfast to eat.

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**2:26 P.M.**

"Which came first the chicken or the egg?" Leo heard as he walked into the living room after finishing lunch. It seemed that the family living room had turned into a game show. A blackboard from who knows where was set up off to one side with a score reading -144,676. The couch and the recliner had been moved to allow for an audience that presently did not exist. The wall of TVs, all of which were turned off, provided the third wall in the mismatched square. Don completed the square sitting behind the kitchen table, hand smacking down on top of a store bell must likely borrowed from April's store.

"The chicken!" Don shouted out dramatically over the faint dinging of the bell.

"WRONG!" Mikey shouted back gleefully standing in from of the table.

"C comes before E in the dictionary." Don protested thinking that that was what the question meant. This wasn't an ordinary trivial game.

"What are you talking about? Dinosaurs were laying eggs long before chickens existed, Don. It's kind of obvious." Mikey explained in the tone of voice designed for speaking to clueless five year olds. Raph was nodding his agreement before turning around and changing the score to -256,081.

"What are you doing now?" Leo asked knowing better than to intervene but his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Trivia Game! I'm trying to prove that Donny can be wrong over the easy, basic questions of life. Yeah, he's smart but only over all those hard stuff that no cares about. I am trying and going to prove that when comes right down to it, common sense wise I am smarter. You may doubt me-"

"You're right about that." Raph muttered turning back around from the chalkboard.

"But," Mikey cut in quickly. "so far I am winning and it's becoming more and more obvious who is the real mastermind of this family."

Unfortunately, Leo's curiosity and need to protect his brothers from another inevitable fight won over the general instinct of self-preservation. "Need a ref?" Leo asked taking a seat in the audience knowing full well that they did.

"Nope. Its a first come, first served basis. I keep the peace, keep the score, stop things from getting out of hand, stop any serious fights from happening. That kind of stuff." Raph said from his place by the chalkboard. Before Leo could think of the absurdity of Raph playing peacekeeper, Mikey interrupted_._

"Alrighty. Next question. And remember NO help from the ref _or_ the audience whatsoever. These questions are extremely difficult and Donny needs as much concentration as he can get. Any whisper of sound could break his focus and even though he is going to lose anyways, its imperative that you don't lower his pride any further--"

"How is he coming up with all this?" Leo asked slightly amazed at his youngest brother's unexpected increase in vocabulary.

"It's scripted." Raph called from his place behind the contestant table.

"Right. Just wondering." Leo said nodding settling back comfortably on the couch.

"You could leave Leo. You seem to be bringing trouble and we don't want that here. Our ref here could kick you out." Mikey warned promoting Raph to turn and look intimidating, something not very hard to do. Leo held up his hands in mock surrender.

"That's what I thought. As I was saying--" Mikey said taking in a deep breath to finish the rest of his long-winded speech.

"Just ask the question. We don't have all day. I have things to do." Don said frustration flickering below his mask on indifference.

"Patience is a virtue." Mikey said using again the same 'you're such a five year old' tone.

"The sooner I get down with this game, the sooner I can get around to fixing your CD player...again" Don said taking a different approach. The lack of caffeine, all the crazy dreams he had last night from eating that pizza before bed, having to fix numerous appliances that shouldn't be able break, and having to go through this game were all whittling away the normally calm brother's patience.

"Fine. Could sheep take over the world?"

"What? No. Why would sheep take over the world?" Don asked confused and worried. After all the other questions, Don had mentally prepared himself for the mad confines of Mikey's brain and what question would come next. However, sadly, no amount of preparation could prepare anyone for that.

"This isn't jeopardy. You don't have to answer in question form." Mikey said impatiently.

"No, sheep can not take over the world." Don said slowly not really believing he actually was saying, let only going along with the game in the first place.

"That your final answer?"

"Yes." Don said looking to see if the audience was just as confused as he was. They were.

"WRONG! Again, man, you gotta catch up. You're way into the negatives, bro. There was no hope for you in the beginning but now..."

"How is my answer wrong?"

"Of course sheep could take over the world! Don't you always say that anything is possible?"

"I highly doubt sheep could take over the world."

"If they had machine guns and an evil scientist controlling them, maybe."

"They don't have opposable thumbs; they don't even have fingers! Machine guns are out of the question. Why I am even having this argument with you?!"

"Theoretically speaking, they cou-" Mikey said adopting a thoughtful expression almost mirroring Don's own thoughtful expression complete with the sideways L across his chin. The floodgates were opened.

"Theoretically speaking!? ALL of these questions could be and are very theory oriented. There isn't one question here that comes even CLOSE to being based in fact." Don said standing up from his seat. He considered whether or not to hit Mikey over the head repeatedly with the bell. He reluctantly decided against it as the bell did not belong to him.

"That skittle question you have to admit was pretty factish." Mikey protested backing away slowly.

"EVERY kind of food is going to taste like twelve year skittles if it's pushing twelve years! And there is no such word as 'factish'. Do you mean factitious?" Don's voice was rising in volume to the same time of Mikey's fear rising.

"Sure. We'll go with that." Mikey escape attempt was blocked by Raph ever so dutifully playing the role of 'ref'.

"Then yes! All of these questions are very factitious." Don declared loudly.

"So you agree that I'm right and you are wrong?" Mikey asked hopefully. Maybe he didn't have to try risking the rest of the questions.

"No." Don started to walk away. Better to leave the madness far behind.

"But, you just...said... Hey wait! One more question! This one is a serious one, sort of. I promise." Mikey had been dying to ask this question. He still might be in the same position after asking the question

"One more. This better not be nonsense." Don turned half of his mind screaming at him why he would do such a thing.

"How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll in the Tootsie Roll Pop?" Mikey asked cueing the suspenseful silence.

"The world may never know?" Don asked carefully. It sounded right. All the answers so far had been nonsense. Why wouldn't this one be?

"That's right, you don't know!" Mikey declared ecstatically. "The answer is 297!"

And another fight started.

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**3:00 P.M.**

"You know, Mikey, you need to find a hobby." Leo standing in front of the closet that Mikey was locked behind.

"I have tons of hobbies. Reading, ninjutsu, pulling together cleverly crafted schemes-"

"Reading comic books is not the most productive thing you could be doing."

"Maybe, but it certainly is the most fun thing I could be doing. Reading huge, thick, whoop-somebody-in-the-head-kind-of books like you and Donny do isn't fun and at least I do read unlike Raph."

"I am thinking hobbies more along the lines of lock picking and escaping."

"I got older brothers to do that for me and besides, it's kinda of hard to pick the lock from the inside. Wanna help me out? I know you do. I don't really deserve to be in here and I know you know it." Mikey spoke in his never fail baby brother voice that coupled with a pair of big blue puppy-dog eyes almost never failed to get him out of trouble with his family. Too bad Leo couldn't see those eyes. An alarming thought struck Leo.

"You aren't going to have us all the time. What if you were stuck somewhere and we weren't able to get to you in time?"

"It's like I always say, you worry too much."

"We have powerful enemies, ones who wouldn't hesitant to take your head off your shoulders in a heartbeat." Leo was deep into lecture- mode.

"A bit morbid..."

"That's our life! 'A bit morbid' as you put it. You need to be prepared. We all need to be prepared." Leo's voice softened towards the end, and the two brothers lapsed into an awkward silence.

"It doesn't sound like a productive life to me." Mikey spoke up suddenly. "Imagine all the time you waste looking over your shoulder all the time. You've always had that creepy strong sixth sense so why bother? I know we need to be prepared. However, if you prepare to the point you have only have a life of preparing and worrying then haven't they already taken your life? It's alright to live a little, Leo, even the way we are. Tell you what. If I can somehow escape this dark prison, you have to promise that you will accept my challenge to an afternoon of video games! You have to try your hardest too in trying to beat me. You still won't win but never hurts to try, right?"

Leo considered saying no but it couldn't hurt, right? "Yes. Now try to get yourself out."

"Swear that you will try your hardest."

"I will."

"One complete afternoon. No rest breaks until dinner."

"Fine."

"Okay then. Getting you to agree was easier than I thought. Prepare for epic failure against the VIDEO GAME MASTER!"

"You have to get out first Video Game Master." Leo said.

"Be out in a second." Mikey called back. Leo shook his head in disbelief. Leo would give Mikey two minutes before he begged for his help out. Another alarming thought suddenly occurred to Leo.

"You can't kick the door down!" Leo cried out quickly.

"I didn't even think of that." Mikey said wonderingly. Leo contained the urge to put his head in his hands. "I am taking a different approach." Soon, the door came loose from its hinges and a grinning triumphant Mikey walked through the opening. "Lucky for me the door is made all weird with the hinges on the inside. It just took a screwdriver and a little leverage and I, Houdini Michelangelo am free!"

"Where did you get the screwdriver?" Leo asked curiously.

"Donny was chasing me around with it earlier."

"Just remember to carry a screwdriver on you person at all times and get locked in doors with inward facing hinges." Leo replied with mock seriousness. "You'll be fine."

"I will. Now you have to hold up your part of the deal. I'll get the game started up." Mikey said tossing the screwdriver to Leo. Leo sighed. He had really been hoping that Mikey had forgotten about that.

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**5:34 P.M.**

"Me thinks its time to find some chow." Mikey said patting his rumbling stomach, then throwing an exasperated Leo a grin. "Face it. I'm undefeated, and there isn't anything even you, Mr. Perfection Leonardo, can do about it."

"No, wait, I think I've gotten the hang of it now." Why was this so hard? Leo thought that after playing game after game he would win at something. Right now all he had to show for his afternoon was a long string of consecutive loses.

"Well, _I_ think I can't keep up my full potential when I'm starving. I hardly got anything to eat today." Mikey grumbled, but nonetheless started up a new game.

"What are you talking about? You have your own private stash upstairs." Leo replied back with a snort.

"Yeah, but all I have left is that bag of salt and vinegar chips I got-" Mikey paused before continuing. "Actually I can't really remember when I got those. Anyways, salt and vinegar chips are a last resort. They're definitively not the most tast-What?" The look of disgust was quite clear on Leo's face. "You don't like salt and vinegar chips, either?" Leo turned his head and stared at his youngest brother. Mikey then unfairly took the opportunity to blast Leo from the sky.

"CHAMPION! That would be me! Again! Unsurprising since I am the Battle Nexus Champion!" And Leo had to endure another one of Mikey's victory dances. "Here I am half starved and exhausted, and I still beat you! Has there ever been a video game you have won at?" Mikey cooed.

Leo shrugged. "PONG."

"I bet I can beat you at that, too!" Mikey said all hunger forgotten.

"You're on."

**....................**

"Now I think it is time for dinner." Leo said. He had played enough PONG to last him awhile.

"How is that you, of all people, all of a sudden have this super-human ability that allows you to win ever PONG game you play?" Mikey staring shocked at the blinking letters declaring Leo the winner. Leo shrugged. Mikey shook his head in disbelief. "You have a talent and so much potential, my friend. Why must you waste it? Why?" Mikey muttered.

"I have more productive things to do."

"A waste." Mikey muttered again shaking his head.

"What do you think we should have for dinner?" Leo asked trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"That hamburger helper stuff April brought us. What did you think we were having?"

"Hamburger helper? I didn't see any hamburger helper when I ate lunch today." Leo said. Leo really wished he had known that. He would have had a bigger lunch.

"I hid it so certain people wouldn't get into it." Mikey glanced meaningful at Leo. "Someone has make sure this family is fed. After all we must be prepared."

Leo smiled. "Do you need any help?"

"It's hamburger helper. Not even Raph could mess up hamburger helper."

"Thanks Mikey." Leo meant more than just making dinner.

"No prob." Mikey smiled back.

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**7:02 P.M.**

Leo made the mistake of looking down as he stood, cleared his plate, and declared it was time to clean up from dinnertime. As he looked back up again it seemed that all of his family members disappeared into air as they were rumored to do and Leo found himself all alone. Except for Don. Leo managed to catch him trying to sneak off out of the corner of his eye.

"Thank you for staying behind to help, Don." Leo said in a voice slightly louder than usual to get rid of any hope for Don of getting out dishes. Leo was _not_ doing the dishes alone. Don froze and seemed to deflate. It was over, he was caught.

"Snooze, you lose!" A voice cried from somewhere hidden in the house in the bedroom. The statement was followed by two sets of laughter making it safe to say that the rest of the family wasn't suddenly swept up into an alterdimension.

"Wash or Rinse?" Leo said holding up the dish towel in one hand and the dish soap in the other hand. Leo, letting Don decided between the very limited options, considered himself considerate.

"Rinse." Don muttered in a tone that might have had a dark tone to it if Leo didn't know better.

They washed and rinse in relative silence for awhile afterwards. Leo glancing at the dark aura that surrounded his brother and though he was all for silence most of the time it was very disconcerting to watch. Not able to take it anymore Leo had to break the silence. "Sorry for the sandwich. I just didn't want to waste it." Leo winced as soon as the words came out of his mouth. What was with him today?

Don's eye ridge quirked but he remained silent.

"Guess I should have stopped that game show, huh?" Leo was reminding himself of someone, he couldn't put his finger on it.

Silence.

"Rinsing isn't that bad. The warm water is relaxing." Here he went rambling on like, well, like Mikey. Wasn't he supposed to be the influence on his youngest brother not the other way around?

Silence.

"I mean compared to the stuff I've done, I didn't really do anything to get on your nerves." Leo searched his memories of the day trying to shift through all that he had done.

"You were ratted out on." Don said finally breaking the silence.

"It was kinda of on the spot." Leo knew exactly what Don was referring to.

"You have done loads better on split-decisions-on-the-spot than _that_. I can't believe I let you get away with that. If I had been more awake..." Don's voice drifted off ominously. Leo didn't say anything. He wasn't the only one who had bad influences of certain siblings affect him.

"What did you do to that whole pot of coffee?" Don asked his normal curious tone coloring his voice.

Silence.

"It's the least you could do to get on the path to apology."

"Poured it out." Leo said quietly somewhat guiltily.

"I assumed that. Where?" Don was looking at him now.

"In the tunnel just outside."

"Let me get this straight. _You_ wasted a _whole_ pot of coffee in the sewer gunk so that you would not waste _a_...sandwich... if it could be called that."

"Like you said, it wasn't my best excuse." Leo said sheepishly shrugging his shoulders.

"What do you have against coffee anyways? I bet you enjoyed pouring it out onto the ground."

"It stunts your growth."

"That's a problem for this entire family, not just me. I really don't think we can get any taller than what we are right now."

"Caffeine is an addictive substance. The addiction would have control over you and control is something we especially should have."

Don snorted. "And you are saying that you aren't addicted to that tea stuff that you go through almost as fast as I do with coffee."

"Tea is good for you. Coffee isn't." Leo pointed out simply.

"Not all teas are. Some teas are caffeinated too." Don pointed back quickly.

"Why do you drink coffee anyways? Apples wake you up even more than coffee does _and_ they are better for you." Leo ignored Don's statement.

"Unfortunately apples do not taste the same nor smell as great as coffee. Besides, coffee helps prevent a number of diseases."

"It also causes a number of diseases."

"Coffee stimulates."

"Tea soothes."

"Coffee taste better."

"Coffee taste bitter, you mean. Tea taste better."

"That's a matter of opinion."

"And your view of coffee isn't opinionated?"

"No, it isn't."

"Right." Leo said giving Don a doubtful look.

"Yep. Now let's finish these dishes so we can get to more important things." Don said drying a plate and gently putting it into the cupboard.

Leo just shook his head, a slight grin spreading across his face despite himself. Why fight with somebody who knows they're right?

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**7:45 P.M.**

"I can not believe we just washed all of those dishes in mouth wash." Don said sniffing one of the cutlery.

"He had to put the mouth wash somewhere. I guess he just switched the two. Does this mean we have to wash all of those dishes?" Leo asked slightly worried.

"You are concerned about the cleanness of dish soap versus mouth wash, but you let your younger brother eat rotten food out of the trash?" Don asked disbelieving before continuing. "I am sure that it doesn't make a difference. Both kill germs. I am just annoyed that now we have dish soapy mouth wash." Don put up the last of the silverware and began to rub his hands together. "Now then, how shall we take on the masked threat namely Michelangelo."

Leo, little disturbed by the glowing look in Don's eye, asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean it's time to prank the prankster. Got a plan?"

"What? No." Leo said reflexively taking a step back.

"Darn. I thought you always had a plan. That's okay. I'll just get Raph in on it." Don said walking out of the kitchen. Concerned as all oldest siblings are, Leo hurried after Don.

"What are you going to do?" Leo asked fearing for his sibling's sanity.

"It's best Leo if you lay low for awhile. You don't want to get caught in the crossfire." Don said taking on a dark, spooky tone. Don continued in a search for Raph. Leo stared at his departing brother for a few seconds before heading to his room. Meditation sounded pretty good right about now.

**.....................**

Some time later, Leo heard a high-pitched scream, maniacal laughter, and sounds that would rival any haunted house. Don most have fixed the surround sound and come up with sounds of his own. Surprising is the effect what a little light and sound could do to an atmosphere. Leo consider getting up to see if Mikey was okay, but a sudden burst of thunder shook the room and he decided against it. Hopefully they would clean up the mess this time.

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**9:15 P.M.**

"Don, do you need to get anything from the junkyard or do you want to patrol?" Leo asked Don who was checking to see if had everything he needed in his duffel.

"I actually promised Professor that I would get a couple of books to him when I was done with them. I can go to April's on my way there and drop off the money we owe her." Don replied looking up from his duffel.

"I'll go with Don. I can ask April to get us some more food. April loves me the best and I know what we need for the next few days. I can convince her." Mikey chimed in. Any fear from the prank Don and Raph had played on him had vanished.

"Alright. We can meet back here." Leo gestured to the rooftop they were standing on. "Don't stay out to long, we have early practice tomorrow. If you need any help..."

"We won't hesitate to call." Don finished the sentence. With that Don and Mikey took off in the direction of the junkyard and April's house. Soon both had disappeared out of sight.

"Don't worry, mother, they'll be fine." Raph called out leaning against the lip of the rooftop. "Are we going or not?" Leo simply took off in the opposite direction that Don and Mikey took, trusting that Raph would be following a step behind him. Leo felt a tinge of annoyance, but he hadn't seen much of Raph today. He hadn't done anything to make Raph mad today.

They continued on in relative silence jumping from rooftop to rooftop. A little ways along they began an unspoken challenge to a race. They traveled faster and faster, their footsteps not making any sound despite the speed they took. Raph then signaled to Leo and they both turned to look down into an alley. A classic store robbery by a gang the two hadn't seen before. There was only six pulling off the top plus the probable lookout at the front of the alley. Leo signaled to Raph to take out the lights. It looked to be a pretty easy take down.

As soon as the glass from the light shattered and the alley went pitch black, the two brothers engaged the street gang into a fight. With the aid of the covering darkness and surprise, Leo and Raph easily took down the gang members.

"Is it just me or are these guys getting easier to beat?" Raph said surveying the scene around them. Broken pipes, chains, and baseball bats were scattered about as their owners no longer could keep a hold of them. "It kind of feels like we are overdressed for this party." Raph commented expertly twirling around his own more sophisticated weapons. "These guys weren't worth our time."

"I think the look out got away." Leo said looking towards the mouth of the alley. No lookout in sight.

"Hope he brings back up that are better then these losers." Raph kicked a lead pipe for good measure.

"Let's tie these guys up and call the police. We don't need to linger here." Leo set to work gathering up the unconscious gang members. Just as Leo dragged the last gang member into the pile prepared for the police a pair of headlights flashed on. Leo shielded his eyes against the glare but couldn't make out anything else besides the light. Leo had to blink the stars out of his vision from the quick change of lightening. The gang members didn't wait for the turtles' vision to clear.

"I think your back up you wanted is here Raph." Leo heard Raph grumble somewhere behind him. "We need to get out of here first chance we get until we can take their visual away. I don't like them deciding the battlefield." Raph grunted his agreement.

Leo fought as easily with his vision gone as he did with his vision. He could hear Raph was having a more difficult time due to the choice words his brother used when a gang member got in a lucky shot. With his vision began returning and Leo began to access the situation. He didn't like that with each passing second police were coming closer and closer to their destination. They needed to get out of the alley and to the rooftops. Leo turned as he swept the legs out from under a gang member, not pausing to wait for him to hit the ground. "Raph, we need to get out of here. The police are almost here."

"We've about cleaned up this mess though." Raph called back throwing a gang member into the wall behind him. The member kicked out from the wall using the momentum to come crashing back into Raph. Leo stepped forward to help Raph when a crashing sound filled his ears.

Leo cursed recalling that he never checked to see if the gang member he took the ground really was out of it when he hit the ground. Voices sounding strangely like Mikey telling him that he didn't need to check over his shoulder all the time filled his head as he fell into darkness.

**....................**

"Hey Leo." The voice coupled with the ringing in his ears drove a stake into a Leo's head. "You need to come back, bro." Somebody was shaking him driving the stake further. "Come on!" Leo really wanted to tell the voice to stop him but he couldn't concentrate. Crazy sheep and molten streams of coffee kept spinning around in his brain. "For goodness sake Leo, I am going to slap you silly if you don't wake up!" Leo groaned involuntary at the increased shaking. "Leo?" The voice now sounded uncertain. Leo lazily blinked open his eyes. Two giant green blobs settled into one. There was a strip of red among the green. Leo focused on the red and all his memory seem to play back to him.

"Raph!" Leo flew up into sitting position. He had to help Raph! He about collapsed back down but the green blob caught him and gently set him down. "Easy there." The voice came from the blob. "It isn't like you to suddenly quit like that. Just as the fight was getting good too."

"Sor'y Raph." Leo's voice slurred. "W'ere are 'e?"

"A few alleys over. I didn't want to risk moving you too far." Leo nodded to show he had heard and winced as the stake was pushed further into his skull. The headache wouldn't be so bad if someone would turn off the lights.

"Are 'ou o'ay?" Leo didn't see anyone with a knife there but knives could be hidden and after Raph's last infection over a knife wound...

"'M fine. Just a bruise or two. Your okay too except for your royal concussion and all. The back of you head is pretty scratched up from the glass bottle." Raph answered back.

"Wh't glass b'ttle?"

"The one used to knock you down and out. You had a baseball bat go to your head, too."

"'id you 'et 'im?" Leo asked.

"Yeah."' And Raph left it at that.

"W'at we waitin' for?" Leo didn't like that if someone were to attack them Raph wouldn't have anyone to watch his back. Raph probably also make sure no one got near Leo further distracting his attention.

"Waitin' for the cavalry to arrive." Raph said. "Donny would have my shell if I tried to get you home. We have to wait until the doctor says you are well enough to move. Don't worry I won't ditch ya'"

Leo smiled. He felt safer knowing that it would take the Devil himself to get Raph to abandon his family and even then Raph wouldn't leave without fight. ""ha'ks Raph."

"Your welcome."

So today he had survived a prank-war, beat the video game master at PONG, gained new revelation on life, found reason to be stuck in bed for the next few days, saw an ancient master lose his temper, and found some answers to life's basic questions. All in all, a typical day.

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The End

**Thank y'alls for reading to the end (or if you just skipped to the end- that's cheating!). Reviewing would be wonderful and I'll take constructive criticism especially since this is my premiering story. If anyone knows a better sound for an alarm clock, speak up! Also, I don't drink coffee sooo if anything is wrong there, tell me, and I will change it promptly. The only thing I had to go off was other stories and Wikipedia. Review! **

**Flames will be used to scare away the probable lawyer knocking on my door because of the iffy disclaimer.**


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